It’s over. All the protestations of Kane Brown’s existence in country music, and the illuminations of the spurious circumstances that surrounded his coronation as a major label country star ultimately offered little resistance to his ascension to where he is now. Shake your fist, curse at your screen, or laugh maniacally if you find yourself embedded in the Kane Brown fandom, but at this point it doesn’t much matter either way. The future of mainstream country music looks and sounds like Kane Brown—meaning bad neck tattoos and a monotone delivery of terrible songs. The only question left is what the future of mainstream country looks like if artists like Kane Brown are leading it.

It doesn’t matter what Kane Brown releases as the first single from his upcoming sophomore album. It doesn’t matter what it’s called, what style it is, or who the songwriters are. It is assured a #1 spot on the charts like a made guy in the mafia is assured protection from the family. You make it to the level Kane Brown is at and you’re male, your continued success is guaranteed for the foreseeable future. And that’s good for Kane Brown, because this new single “Lose It” is burdened with a number of maladies to keep it from being considered quality in any capacity, or country by any stretch of the terminology, despite the presence of the token banjo which doesn’t tie the song to the roots, it’s a concession that nothing else about the song is country.

Maybe some slight credit is due to Kane and the producers for making the song actually sound like music, but “Lose It” is nothing more than a contemporary rock song. It’s much more similar to Jason Aldean as opposed to Sam Hunt or Florida Georgia Line. There are actually a couple of blazing guitar solos—still serrating to the ears of any true country fans and filler for the fact that the song lacks a third verse, but this is not your typical drum machine-backed electronic project that places all bets on being considered country from the twang of the singer’s voice, if that’s even present.

But Kane’s voice is the worst part about “Lose It,” and really the marquee failing of his entire career up to this point. What first made Kane Brown compelling as a viral internet star covering classics from “King” George Strait and others was that he delivered them in a deep, quality country voice. But the melody-bereft writing and over-electronic modulations of his studio vocal signals have taken what should be one of country’s signature young voices, and rendered it one of the most polarizing and off-putting aspects of modern country radio. “Lose It” is the most compelling specimen when making this case yet.

And that’s not where “Lost It” lets up with the disappointment. The words of the song disrobe like the transcription of a date rape being read in superior court. I guess consent must be assumed from the female subject in the song, but she’s portrayed as nothing more than flesh to be consumed. “Lose It” is not a love story. This isn’t a bout of nostalgia a la Bob Seger’s “Night Moves.” It’s just Kane Brown getting it on in the back of a car by first driving to a remote location with no corroborating witnesses, and then ordering his object of affection out of her articles of clothing one by one. Can anyone name a redeeming quality to this song aside from the catch-all of calling it “fun”?

“Lose It” is a super hit because it’s from Kane Brown. Otherwise it’s got a big bag of nothing aside from some wank off arena rock guitar to go with the masturabatory lyrics. It’s catchy, I’ll give you that, but so is chlamydia. Yet we live in such a culturally bankrupt moment in popular country music, the song still probably doesn’t even near the worst out there. Sam Hunt and others still have you covered in that department, sparing Kane Brown and “Lose It” the worst pricks from the poison pen.

Congratulations popular country music, here’s your new generation, and it’s rabidly vapid and creatively bankrupt, and its name is Kane Brown.

77 Comments

Why do we continue to give crap like this any attention at all? Would much rather see an album review of someone deserving of the attention. Tami Neilson’s new album is ridiculously good and Jesse Dayton’s new album may be his best one yet. Hope you are able to share your honest thoughts on those soon. Cheers.

I’ve been seeing this comment for 10 years now and have addressed it in many different ways. But one thing I don’t think I emphasize enough is the time commitment that goes into writing an album review as opposed to writing an article such as this. Album reviews take hours upon hours to compose from the time committed to listening alone. Then when you factor in research you may need to do on the artist, plus writing the actual review, embedding the images, links, etc., it is an incredible time commitment, often nearing 10 hours of time or more for each record reviewed. An article on a song like this takes roughly 10% of that time, because it’s just one song. So folks shouldn’t think about this as a binary choice, Tami Neilson vs. Kane Brown. The truth is Tami Neilson and other artists are in the top of a rotating listening cue being considered for review, and when I’ve listened enough that I feel confidence in what I want to say about a record, they get selected. But simply due to time resources, I will never be able to slam out 7 or 8 album reviews a week. Nor do I want to, because that would result in a lack of quality, and bury the importance of each album review due to the volume of them. There is no more daunting task for me to choose which albums to review, or what to spend my time with every day. Sometimes I choose to write about an artist like Jesse Daniel, or Tim Culpepper who truly nobody will write about if I don’t, or write a dissenting viewpoint about Kane Brown that nobody else will if I don’t, than use my time to reinforce an artist already being well-covered in the media such as Tami Neilson. I still intend to review the new Tami Neilson album, for example, but more important priorities may persist.

Also specific to Tami Neilson—and many of the other artists people clamor for reviews for—I have already featured her new releases “Sassafrass” multiple times. I did a dedicated article announcing the release of the album. I featured it at the very top of the “Most Anticipated” post recently. I put one of her songs in the Top 25 Playlist to reinforce the release as well so her record did not go overlooked while I focused on other releases during an extremely busy release cycle. In 2018, I have tried to open up new avenues to covering as much music as possible. Along with publishing more album reviews than ever before, I’m doing more album announcements, more tour announcements, more list-style articles with features on releases that have happened and are upcoming to help support the music as best I can. But one thing I can’t do is write even more album reviews without compromising quality, which I’m unwilling to do.

Sorry for the long-winded statement, but I just want everyone to know the struggles I face when it comes to the misconceptions of album reviews, and the commitment I have to them. I review as many album as I absolutely possibly can. It’s everything else that fills in the margins between them, not vice versa.

This one didn’t deserve a rant, and I’m glad Trigger saved the vitriol for the next one that does.

Culturally bankrupt just about sums it up. I knew my daddy had about given up on me when he stopped yelling at me, and so it goes with the Kane Browns of the world.

There’s a 19 year old city kid that comes to some of our shows and plays around the area quite a bit too. He wears the Scully shirts and boots and all that and plays the classics and I love it. Bring on all the country hipsters as long as they’re playing Merle and Willie and Waylon! Beats the shit out of these arena rocker wannabes.

It really boggles my mind that we still see comments like this. If it weren’t for SCM, I wouldn’t even know who Tami Neilson is, and that’s just one of many. Trigger has proven over the course of years now that he is perfectly capable of BOTH paying attention to the mainstream and the alternative/indie sides of country music. I for one am grateful.

The reason there are still comments like this on SCM is because many of us are long time loyal readers who would come here for regular album reviews and news/updates on underground artists in this scene. Lately there are more and more articles on here about Sam Hunt, Kane Brown, Bebe Rexha, etc. The majority of the readers here know these type of artists are garbage, and a lot of us don’t see the value in reading about them sucking day in and day out. I’m sure many of us would rather see 5 less articles a week about some pop country artist we know is going to suck and instead get one more extra album review of someone less known and deserving in that week instead….because I do get and understand the reviews are much more of a time investment, which adds to the appreciation of them.

I remember a time when I used to read every article Trig posted. But if it is another article about one of these clowns 9 times out of 10 I’m going to pass because I can already presume it’s about how that artist released another shitty song. Now, if an article is written about how one of these pop artists broke out of their mold and realeased something with substance, I’m all for it.

For those of you that enjoy the regular pop country tidbits and reviews, I’m glad you enjoy them.

The amount of coverage of pop country has not changed or increased at Saving Country Music whatsoever. From the very beginning the site has always covered of the mainstream. This isn’t an opinion. This is a statistical certitude. Right now on the home page there are 13 articles, three of which cover the mainstream. That’s about the same ratio that normally persists, and how it’s been for over 10 years. The only thing that has increased in 2018 is the amount of album reviews, album announcements, tour announcements, and other very direct independent music coverage. When I posted my “Best Albums So Far” list last week, I had published 7 more album reviews in 2018 than I had in 2017 up to that same point. And in 2017, I posted more album reviews than ever. It’s the album reviews for independent artists that are increasing. And still the biggest complaint I get about the site is there needs to be more album reviews. That’s because no matter how many album reviews I publish, there will never be enough. There will still be albums people will point to and say it’s unfair they went uncovered. In fact the more albums I cover, the more obvious it makes the ones that go uncovered, like they’re purposely being excluded. And then people turn that into hatred for the site. I could review 100 more albums a year and this complain would still persist. Literally the only way I could squash this criticism is to stop reviewing albums completely. That’s what I did with covering crowdfunding campaigns after I kept receiving complaints for covering one, but not another. And now I don’t receive any complaints at all.

The type of coverage in 2018 that has suffered for the increased music coverage for independent artists has been industry pieces about Spotify, Facebook, radio, etc. This is what is giving ground to make way for more independent music coverage.

And I have to be honest, each time I see comments like this, it is the biggest test of will in keeping Saving Country Music going. In fact I think some detractors know this, and that’s why they harp on it. If you go to my “Best Albums So Far post,” see all the albums covered on the site, offered to the public completely free and by a one-man operation, and assert that Saving Country Music doesn’t do enough or could do more to “support” independent music, than you’re being incredibly selfish and entitled.

I appreciate that folks love to read my album reviews. I write as many as I absolutely possibly can. But your average Saving Country Music reader is not someone who likes to read about independent artists. It’s people who work in the mainstream country music industry, it’s people who come here from Google who’ve never heard of Saving Country Music before. Album reviews are the least-read content on the site. I still write them, and are writing more every week and every year. But acting like it is the foundation of Saving Country Music is incorrect. The foundation of Saving Country Music is to influence the marketplace for the betterment of true country music and independent artists. Album reviews are one tool to doing that. But if it wasn’t for negative and mainstream coverage, it would render the efforts of this website virtually inert.

I posted two album reviews on Friday. I posted a review of a documentary covering independent artists today. If that’s not enough positive independent music coverage for you, then there never will be.

Also, the first article I read here was one of Trigger’s entertaining rants/negative reviews. I think I found it from a Google search. Then I stuck around and found out who Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, Sunny Sweeney, Turnpike Troubadours, etc. were.

Completely wrong with your “majority of readers here” comment, Barry. Do you have access to readership stats? The answer is no. Trigger has addressed this many times in the past, so it appears that you indeed are no “long-term reader” of the site.

If you read my comment correctly you would have noticed I said the majority of readers know pop country artists are garbage. Apologies for confusing you. I’ve also been an active reader since 2011. Thanks.

Trigg – you really should just have a standard cut and paste response to the idiotic, predictable “why not just ignore this stuff” comment that comes up on every article like this. Would save you lots of time!

How about a standard cut and paste response to the idiotic and predictable songs like this? Would also save lots of time. These articles in themselves are predictable….and I don’t mean that in an offensive way.

But the best spaghetti in the world will come in last place at a pie making contest because it isn’t pie.

Also, brace yourselves the Gen-Z and aging soccer moms will soon be upon us calling us haterz and jealous.

See, whereas Sam Hunt has no Country credibilty or credentials, Kane Brown… does. it’s surprising, but he seems more aware of Country Music than Sam Hunt. The problem is that thanks to Sam Hunt and Bebe Rhexha and company, somebody like Kane Brown who might have otherwise taken a more traditional approach almost has to follow the current trend.

my mother just filled the fountain outside the window, but I’d rather listen to it trying to gurgle barbecue sauce than anything by Sam Hunt. whereas at least Kane Brown has some decent covers to choose from.

That said, you could put bees on a taco and give it lots of sour cream. I like sour cream but not enough to eat bees.

Are you sure that wasn’t Jason Rhett? or Akins Farr? or Bryan Georgia Line? or Chase Davidson? or Gilbert Swindell?

Seriously, why do all the “Country singers” look and sound the same?

I could tolerate Kane Brown if his radio brethren included Whitey Morgan and Robert Ellis, or Jason Boland.

for a lot of people I think the great offense is not that a few bad songs or artists exist but that only one style of bad music is presented as representative of all the genre at the expense of other styles and influences.

sort of like bean soup isn’t inherently bad, and even a subpar bean soup isn’t too bad when you have tacos, spinach kopita and bread pudding, blintzes and pierogies.

Not good, but not as bad as I thought it would be and as noted at least not as electronic as other pop/bro country. The thing is, you have the choice to listen to music that is so much better than this. It’s a given now at this point, but the machinery in place won’t let the average listener or radio listener hear it…. and that is and probably always will be the tragedy of it all. Of course you also can’t excuse the laziness of the average listener either, and how some of them will dig this just because he’s “hot.” Only a matter of time before one of those fans shows up to defend his “music.”

The same sound, the same production, same banjo, same story & the same way Kane Brown became a star…he will be replaced by the next big thing in Popville. I’ll give him 3 albums, Dancing with the other has-beens, Dr. Phil & gone.
Why invest in a longer career when you can go to a gym & find a “pretty” boy who is willing to play a “country” singer for a couple of years.

1997 was the year good music died, period. Basically the perfect storm happened. The death of Brad Nowell of Sublime robbed alternative music of its next great band. Teenybop music was returning with a vengeance. The Death of Biggie, follwed by Puff Daddy’s “Reign of Terror” in hip hop. And Tim, Faith, and Shania’s three pronged assault on everything country music stood for before that year. Forget 1959. 1997 was TRULY the “Year The Music Died!!!”

If Kane could be a “star” so quick due to of lot of YouTube views. Then this girl should really be a star, this (instrumental) cover of “Hotel California has over 20 millions views on YouTube…There are a few errors but still a damn good cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1q4-tzMI28

And here is a cover of “Freight Train” It’s a simple compare to Chet Atkins’s version and also have some flaws but she had only played the guitar for two years when she uploaded it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qq2DZskkzo

I’m posting this because to me this shows that sometimes it’s other things than “talent” that make a person a star. And I really cant understand what it is that made Kane such a star…
And I never heard of hear of this girl until I stumbled across these and other covers of her on YouTube

I got less than a minute in and heard another deep , profound song about a ‘ girl ‘ flipping her hair using ideas stolen from U2 , Urban ( who steals from EVERYONE) and another non-descript autotuned voice and then I had to shut ‘er down . Jesus ….can even mainstream radio/listeners stand one more of these ?

Last night I was at a club …..guy introduced himself and said he was a HUGE country music fan ever since his kids turned him on to Luke Bryan . I had to walk away or risk God-knows-what if I’d said ANYTHING . He was a real nice guy too . I mean …..the encroachment is happening on more fronts than we might imagine .

I couldn’t help thinking afterwards ” How did this ‘ older’ guy NOT become a fan of the amazing country voices of his own generation but seemed to think Luke Bryan was ‘ the man ‘ ” ?
Its like someone telling you the sky is green with such conviction that you start to question your OWN eyes !

I think its called TRUMPITIS …..you ONLY see what you want , believe what you want and everyone else is just an insignificant cardboard cut-out in your pretend world .

Nothing but bad reviews so might as well join. Theres other artists or genres out there that honestly sound like shit and some how people think the new modern country music and/or artists are the worst out there. People have their own opinions but just because Kane Brown is one of the newer country musicains they decided to criticize his music. Country music is evolving because its a newer generation and some people just have to understand that and accept it.

So… if the newer generation decides that they hate bread pudding, but love shrimp with lobster sauce, and decide to serve shrimp with lobster sauce at the bread pudding places, and tell people “bread pudding evolved because its a newer generation” does that justify taking bread pudding away from people who like it just so someone else can have his shrimp?

I like Country Music.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask that I have a radio station, or a tv network that serves my interests.

But basically I get told that my opinions don’t matter, and that somebody else can serve shrimp with lobster sauce at the place I used to buy my bread pudding, and that if I want bread pudding I have to go extra efforts to find it because I can’t have a radio station of my own.

This is my view as well. I’m not asking that anybody like the music I like. I’m not looking to take over every radio station in the country. I just want to know: why is it so terrible if good country and americana music is played somewhere? Why does bro-country and pop-country have to be ubiquitous?

Trigger, next you know it Kane will be calling you “racist” like he did the songwriters in Nashville because some of the songwriters didn’t like him. His covers of neo-traditional country are awesome, but the music he puts out is some of the worst on country radio. This guy is an idiot, he sold out as soon as he gained the slightest bit of fame and a label.

Not sure if “thank you” is the right thing to say, Trigger.
But I did find this song laughably crappy.
If there was dictionary of musical sound bites, this would be filed under “bro country” for sure.
No depth, no soul, no grit. Ugh!

We all know the country radio space has been taken advantage of for decades to make lots of money off “artist” who can’t fit into other spaces. I simply yawn at guys like this….. and encorage others do the same. No reason to waste energy worrying about it.

I will admit to never having made any effort to listen to a Kane Brown song including this one. A friend of mine put me onto the duet song “Can’t Stop Love” by Chandler Stephens (a gal by the way not that the first name gives any clue) along with Kane and I have to admit I like Kane’s vocals on that song quite a bit. I think that is probably enough Kane Brown music for me based upon what I read here at SCM.

Because artistic criticism has been around since art itself, and is a critical element to the creative process. The fact that this is such a foreign concept to so many reinforces why it is so critically important to keep it alive.

Joseph Stein – “That is why I am PATIENTLY waiting for the Dierks Bentley review. Can’t wait to read it. I am obsessed with it right now”

Why are you waiting on a review? If you like it, but it and enjoy. Do not know what a review will do to enamor your taste.

Reviews have absolutely NOTHING to do with whether I like a song or artist. Introducing me to an artist or song I might not have otherwise come across is a good thing. After said introduction, I decide based upon my preferences and do not give a flip about someone else’s review. There is only one musical critic that I care about. ME!

Trigger is one of the very few reviewers (maybe less than a few) these days that can have an effect on whether or not I buy an album. Mainly it’s because he writes actual critical reviews and not the happy talk nothingburger reviews that seem to be everywhere else. And so if he writes a thoughtful glowing review on an album I’m on the fence about, I might give it a second look or take a flyer on it. And I actually like to read his reviews on albums I’ve already bought because I’m genuinely curious to read what he thinks. And I look forward to the conversation in the comment sections.

Kane Brown – perhaps the biggest waste of a great stone-cold country voice this generation.
The only thing I can take away from this song is that it’s remarkably indistinguishable from all the other crap that dominates uncountry radio.
– same banjo riff
– same cheesy lines about back roads, tailgates, etc.
– same talk singing

Josh Turner, Joe Nichols , Easton Corbin , Mo Pitney , Tim Culpepper , Alan Jackson , Cody Johnson and many more gifted country vocalists ( and those are just the males ) are being ignored by mainstream radio ‘ as we speak ‘ in favour of guys like Kane Brown and all the clones/clowns he spawns or emulates .
We are living in the Bizzarro world ….no question . I mean …from Trump and his minions on down to the Sam Hunts and Kane Browns being played as ” country” singers ….WTF is going on ???????????

Kane can sing. He has just bought into the BS machine that’s using him. I don’t blame him. I blame the cynical pukes who just want to push units until the bottom falls out. Then they’ll go on to ruin something else. They are anti-cultural.

Hello! May name is Farah! Extreme Kane fan here and someone that thinks the world of him and his family! How dare u write an article bashing Kane! You have no clue what he’s had to do to get where he is! He worked hard from the start to get where he is. You don’t know him personally. He’s not handed anything; he has worked for it. He started from the bottom and worked his butt off. He and his family, the band, and his music, and the ppl that have helped to get him here are awesome! So u have no Right to judge him or anything he does. You are the true version of a sad reviewer or reporter. If u don’t like where country music is going then don’t listen to it. Kane has one of the best voices in country music and is going to go all the way up! All y’all that bash him are just heartless and jealous that you’re not up on that stage or winning and award and living ur dream. Your article blows! You are being reported just to let u know bc u have no Right bashing someone or something u know little about! I’ll pray for u because u are sick in the head!
Sincerely; super Kane fan

Farah, you’re right! He does have a great country singing voice! Maybe someday he’ll actually use it in one of his songs!
As for the whole “He’s not handed anything; he has worked for it” bit, that’s a giant load of crap. Most of us work HARD every day. And none of us gets by without a LOT of help along the way. I have no doubt Kane has worked hard to get where he is; but so have many thousands with just as much talent and passion who do not have the advantageous platform upon which he stands.

Farah, this blog is just that, a blog. The author most certainly has the right to criticize anything he wishes due to the unique and special right of freedom of speech which believe it or not is an intrinsic part of the fabric of this countrys constitutional documents. Also, you should know that criticism of the performance art is and remains a part of the entertainment industry. Apparently you are unfamiliar with the concept , but it’s not new, theater critics, art critics, music critics exist as a service to the folks in the community who wish an informed opinion on a said performance.
To wit, one Kane Brown is currently releasing and performing music that is being categorized as country music. Therefore, a critical opinion based thinkpiece on the aforementioned artists output is most certainly appropriate, particularly when considered through the lens of previously established works within the history of the genre. Consider this a friendly public service message.

Since when does someone’s upbringing and history qualify if I like them or not as far there music goes? He may become a great success story and more power to him. But that doesn’t qualify him to be in my listening repertoire.